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Wednesday, 2nd January 2008 (5746 views)

The news that the National Science Foundation selected the former Homestake gold mine to be the preferred new site of its national underground laboratory has been names as one of the top ten stories of the year for 2007, according to the Rapid City Journal.

Situated in Lead, South Dakota, the former gold mine was closed in 2002. An announcement naming it as a preferred laboratory site was made in July 2007.

It is thought that once completed, the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory would be positioned 7,400 feet underground and would be the deepest lab in the world.

The depth of the proposed laboratory would shield sensitive scientific experiments from cosmic radiation.

Construction on the project is not likely to start for a number of years, as it is still pending approval from Congress, the National Science Board and the White House.

However, it is thought that an interim laboratory, owned by the state of South Dakota, could be in operation at the former gold mine by the end of this year, according to the newspaper.

The interim laboratory would be situated around 4,850 feet underground.

 

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